Justice Crabbe was an institution - Rawlings

Former President Jerry John Rawlings has described late Supreme Court Justice, Vincent Cyril Richard Arthur Charles Crabbe, as an institution that carried the true essence of respect and human dignity.

He referred to the demise of Justice Crabbe as the falling of a great tree.

Speaking during a courtesy call on him by the family of Justice Crabbe last Tuesday, the former President said he had revered the departed constitutional expert for so long and was recently honoured to have sat close to the late jurist when he led a delegation of Ga Dangme chiefs to call on him.

“I have always respected the man from a distance. I don’t think there’s anybody in this country who does not think highly of Justice Crabbe. He was a quiet, very pensive, and very methodical person. Wisdom sat well with him,” former President Rawlings told the visiting family delegation.

Justice Crabbe, former President Rawlings stated, had remained prominent for so long and was always alive to issues even as he aged and represented the past all the way to the present. He said people like Justice Crabbe, Justice Annan and Nathan Quao were a huge source of inspiration to their community and society.

The former President said it was hard to come by personalities of Justice Crabbe’s kind who did not belong to any political, economic or social constituency and have so much to impart to society.

Former President Rawlings said when he last met Justice Crabbe, he had a grand plan to exorcise the anger and discontent within the Ga community in a bid to instill a sense of unity within the Ga State.

“I was preparing myself to see how best I could help in my small way, but the problem solver is gone,” the former President said.

Nephew of Justice Crabbe, Richard Crabbe who led the family delegation said the elderly statesman passed away after a short illness.

Justice Crabbe who died at the age of 95 was a constitutional expert who helped draft national constitutions not only in Ghana, but in countries such as Zambia, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa.